National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)

The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) is designed to protect consumers from fraud and unsafe vehicles and to keep stolen vehicles from being resold. It is a consolidated database of motor vehicle title and vehicle history information compiled by participating state motor vehicle agencies. In addition, it includes information from insurance companies and junk and salvage yards that is required by law to be reported to the system.

On August 30, 2010, the Department of Revenue began using the NMVTIS to quickly verify motor vehicle title and history information (from all participating states) electronically. This provides additional assurance that ownership titles associated with the purchase of vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles are accurately branded. If there is a discrepancy between what is submitted to the Department and what is in the NMVTIS database, a person may notice a slight delay in the issuance of titles as the transaction will then require a manual review.

The creation of NMVTIS was mandated by federal legislation. The U.S. Department of Justice is responsible for the system and the Department of Justice has contracted with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) to operate the NMVTIS system.